The Role of Social Media in Communication and Branding Process of Woman Entrepreneurs’ Companies

Year 2015, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 117 - 138, 20.02.2015

Ebru Gökaliler , Özlem Alikılıç

Abstract

While Facebook has grown exponentially for enterpreneurs seeking new ways of connecting with their customers, woman enterpreneurs have increasingly used Facebook pages to create a brand or enhance their current brands. This paper initiated an study on how local brands in Izmir employ social media, particularly Facebook, to increase brand communication and reinforce brand loyalty. Thus, the objective of the present study is to analyze the woman enterpreneurs’  uses of Facebook to engage and interact with their target audiences including Facebook fans, consumers, and clients. Using content analysis, the Facebook pages of eight brands that were founded by woman enterpreneurs in Izmir were analyzed in terms of their frequency of communication with their target audiences, the types of engagement with them, and the degree of connectivity with their fans. In this context, this study represented findings from a content analysis of Facebook posts from eight companies which were founded by women to see what types of social media promotion tools were used to connect with their users. The study has shown that, although woman enterpreneurs have official corporate Facebook pages, they are lack of brand communications and lack of connecting with their customers and fans through their Facebook pages. In conclusion, contributions of brand communication through Facebook and the importancy of communication programs designed in Facebook were discussed.

Keywords

Women Entrepreneurs; Social Media; Brand Communication; Facebook

Kadın Girişimcilere Ait İşletmelerin Marka Yaratım ve İletişim Süreçlerinde Sosyal Medyanın Yeri

Abstract

Bu çalışmada kadın girişimcilerin sosyal medyada aktif bireysel paylaşımlarının yanında, iş geliştirme ve markalarının tanıtımında sosyal medyadan yararlanıp yararlanmadıkları rasyonelinden yola çıkılmıştır.

Bu çalışmada temel alınan konu, kendi işini kuran kadın girişimcilerin sosyal medya platformlarını kullanarak gerçekleştirdikleri marka yaratım çalışmalarının neler olduğu ve bu çabalarına ilişkin iletişim faaliyetlerinin saptanması amaçlanmaktadır.  Bu bağlamda İzmir’de sosyal medyada en çok bilinen ve yararlı faaliyetlerde bulunan bir Yahoo haber grubu; İzmirli Anneler platformu üyeleriyle amaçsal örneklem metoduyla seçilen üyeler arasından içerik analizi çalışması gerçekleştirilmiş ve elde edilen veriler analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada İzmirli kadın girişimcilerin Facebook’taki kurumsal sayfalarını aktif olarak kullanmadıkları ve marka iletişimi faaliyetlerinde hedef kitleleriyle çift yönlü ve periyodik ilişki kuramadıkları tespit edilmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra Facebook’taki kurumsal sayfalarının markalarına katkıları ve iletişim çalışmalarındaki yeri de bulgular ve sonuç kısmında değerlendirilmiştir.

Keywords

Kadın Girişimciler; Sosyal Medya; Marka İletişimi; Facebook

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